The meeting minutes give the impression that it was a substitute: only a major disaster could move the Fed towards expanding the balance sheet. This is supportive of the dollar.

Most FOMC members wanted balance sheet action: 12 out of 19. This includes both voting and non voting members. Such a wide majority, that probably includes Chairman Bernanke, sounds quite dovish.

However, balance sheet action doesn’t mean expanding it with QE3 – it doesn’t mean printing more dollars and devaluing the currency: 11 out of 12 saw more Twist as good enough at this time.

Only “a few” (translation is 2) saw a need for more bond purchases. Two other left the door open for new bond purchases in case of a deterioration – such a deterioration seems “low at present” according to the minutes.

Others took the other direction and wanted to know “how large purchases would have to be to disrupt the Treasury market” – they showed worries about the side effects.

All in all, some worries are expressed and the Fed does leave the door for more action. Nevertheless, the bar for printing more dollars remains quite high.

Next Meeting

The chances of QE3 in the July 31 / August 1 meeting is low. If expectations do rise towards this meeting, they will probably be met with another disappointment. The last QE program, QE2, ended in June 2011. Almost every FOMC meeting since then held expectations for QE3, and resulted in a disappointment.

About Author

Yohay Elam – Founder, Writer and Editor
I have been into forex trading for over 5 years, and I share the experience that I have and the knowledge that I’ve accumulated. After taking a short course about forex. Like many forex traders, I’ve earned the significant share of my knowledge the hard way. Macroeconomics, the impact of news on the ever-moving currency markets and trading psychology have always fascinated me.
Before founding Forex Crunch, I’ve worked as a programmer in various hi-tech companies. I have a B. Sc. in Computer Science from Ben Gurion University. Given this background, forex software has a relatively bigger share in the posts.
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12 Comments

Market participants still don’t get it – there is NO ‪QE3‬ stimulus coming, not now, not ever! The FED printing money right before the elections is a suicide, this would be THE END for Obama and his administration (and the FED itself). I expect a huge massive sell-off in today’s US S&P500 session just like june 21st.

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